Mom in the Middle Read Online Free PDF Page B

and pulled the door closed behind him. He’d noted earlier that the fluorescent ceiling bulbs were burned out, the overhead door opener was broken and the ventilation was insufficient for the cans of paint stacked on the ancient cinder-block shelves.
    â€œWhat’s he doing here again today, Dad?”
    Abby’s voice carried through the hollow-core door. Guy grimaced at the question that sounded more like an accusation.
    â€œHe came back to help me hang the ceiling fan.” Guy smiled as Shorty defended his presence.
    â€œLooks to me like he did more than help. You let him take over another one of our projects.”
    â€œThat’s not quite true. I gave all the instructions and handed him the parts and he managed the rest without too much difficulty. He has apprentice potential, but not much.”
    â€œWell, nothing’s wrong with the apprentice you already have, Daddy. Me. ”
    Guy heard the possessiveness in Abby’s voice, recognized it as the same tone Casey took with their father when she was vying with her older siblings for a share of his attention. Guy’s natural reaction when Casey got that way was to tell her to suck it up and wait her turn. Somehow he didn’t think that was the correct approach with Abby, an only child who’d probably never had to compete for her father’s time.
    He heard the rumbling of Shorty’s lowered voiceand stepped closer to the door. Eavesdropping. Casey would call him a jerk and pinch him till he yelped.
    â€œHoney, you have zero time for all the repairs and improvements this house needs and I thought it would be nice if your mama came home to find some of those things finished. I wouldn’t admit it to him just yet, but he seems like a nice enough Christian fella. If he wants to help an old man out, what’s wrong with that?”
    â€œDon’t you see what he’s up to, Daddy? That horse’s behind is just doing all this to stay on our good side so we won’t sue his store over Mama’s accident.”
    â€œSo what if he is. He’ll find out soon enough that we’re not that kind of people. Besides, as much as I love Dillon, it’s nice to have some conversation with a guy who’s not wearing a drool bib. Now, come hug your old man and tell me what you’re doing home so early.”
    Guy stamped hard on the wooden step and rattled the loose knob to announce his approach. The brown eyes that greeted him were…different. Her mother’s eyes. Stern. Abby had actually called him a horse’s behind! Worse yet, she seemed determined to remain angry with him, something he’d rarely experienced, and couldn’t accept.
    â€œHow do you like the fan?” He used the cajoling tone that never failed to work with his sisters.
    She turned her face toward the slowly rotating blades, giving him a moment to appreciate her clear skin, the natural blush of her cheeks that were round, like her son’s.
    Abby studied the new fixture. Except for the twinkling piece of stained glass dangling from the end of the chain, it looked just like the picture on the box.
    â€œNot bad,” she muttered. Not exactly praise for a job well done but it was the best she intended to give under the circumstances. Abby knew she’d never be able to speak her mind with her father sitting there like this interloper’s begrudging champion.
    â€œDad, would you mind getting me a change of clothes for Dillon?” She needed to get him out of the room. “That little pair of denim overalls and a clean T-shirt would be nice.”
    â€œWhere is he? Is anything wrong?”
    â€œEverything’s fine,” she assured her father. “The day care called and he got fruit punch down the front of his shirt today. I thought I’d pick you up first then we’d change Dillon at the day care and go to the hospital before dinner.”
    â€œSure. That’ll be a nice surprise for